ADDRESS 


ECONOMICS 

mm 


TO  THE 


PEOPLE  OF  THE  STATE 


NEW-YORK, 

BY  THE! 

NEW-YORK  AND  ERIE  RAIL  ROAD  CONVENTION, 


HELD  AT  OWEGO,  JULY  1835. 


NEW-YORK: 


G.  P.  SCOTT  &  00.  PRINTERS,  CORNER  JOHN  AND  GOLD-STREETS. 

1835. 


:  < 


ADDRESS 


TO  THE 


PEOPLE  OF  THE  STATE 


NEW-YORK, 


BY  THE 


NEW-YORK  AND  ERIE  RAIL  ROAD  CONVENTION, 


HELD  AT  OWEGO,  JULY  1835. 


NEW-YORK: 


G.  P.  SCOTT  &  CO.  PRINTERS,  CORNER  JOHN  AND  GOLD-STREETS 

1835. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/addresstopeopleo00newy_0 


Q2S  I 


385.4* 

Adi 


ADDRESS. 


*1 


This  Convention,  composed  of  delegates  from  different 
counties  interested  in  the  construction  of  The  New  York 
and  Erie  Rail  Road,  feels  it  due  to  the  citizens  it  repre¬ 
sents,  to  submit  to  the  public  the  considerations  which 
convened  it,  and  the  result  of  its  deliberations.  Anxious 
for  the  execution  of  this  work,  and  convinced  of  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  such  an  improvement,  they  deem  nothing  more  re¬ 
quisite  to  secure  for  it  the  efficient  support  of  the  State, 
than  a  just  understanding  of  its  merits.  To  procure  a 
—  liberal  examination  of  its  claims  to  public  favour,  and  the 
aid  for  its  immediate  completion,  which  a  just  estimate  of 
its  importance  cannot  fail  to  obtain ;  to  prevent  all  oppo¬ 
sition  and  hostility  incompatible  with  the  interests  and 
prosperity  of  the  country,  induces  this  body  to  call  the 
22  attention  of  the  people  to  its  character  and  claims. 

The  natural  facilities  for  the  construction  of  a  continu¬ 
ous  thoroughfare  over  the  extended  tract  of  territory  which 
this  road  is  to  traverse,  early  attracted  the  attention  of  our 
soundest  and  most  practical  statesmen.  General  James 
Clinton  explored  the  route  while  the  country  was  a  wilder- 
c-  ness,  and  advocated  the  making  of  a  “  National  Appian 
Way,”  between  the  Hudson  river  and  the  fertile  regions  of 
<wthe  West.  The  proposed  work  presented  so  many  induce¬ 
ments  as  a  national  improvement ,  that  it  arrested  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  the  General  Government.  A  reconnoisance  of  a  rail 
road  route  between  the  Hudson  river  and  the  portage  sum¬ 
mit  of  the  Ohio  Canal  was  made  at  its  expense,  before  its 
action  in  such  improvements  was  arrested  by  the  Presi¬ 
dent’s  celebrated  Maysville  Veto  Message.  The  report  of 


4 


De  Witt  Clinton,  United  States’  Civil  Engineer  on  that  re- 
connoisance,  submitted  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
February  9,  1832,  in  obedience  to  a  call  for  it  by  that 
body*  thus  alludes  to  the  various  projects  and  importance 
of  connecting  these  prominent  points  by  some  new  channel 
of  intercourse. 

“  The  utility  and  practicability  of  accomplishing  a  water 
pv  land  communication  to  unite  the  Hudson  river  and  Lake 
Erie,  by  a  route  through  the  southern  counties  of  New- 
York,  at  different  and  remote  periods,  received  the  sanc¬ 
tion  of  many  highly  patriotic  and  distinguished  individuals 
under  the  term  of  a  National  Appian  Way,  a  State  Road, 
and  a  Central  Canal :  and  perhaps  at  this  time  it  may  be 
deemed  fortunate,  since  the  merits  of  rail  road  improve¬ 
ments  are  now  better  understood  than  formerly,  and  a 
more  perfect  and  general  knowledge  of  the  resources  of 
the  lands,  and  the  localities  of  the  route  attained,  that  the 
want  of  adhesion  among  their  advocates,  and  strong  coun¬ 
ter  interests,  defeat  the  adoption  of  the  original  plans.” 
The  resources  of  the  State  were  then  comparatively  small, 
and  public  attention  not  sufficiently  awakened  to  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  subject, 

Developments  made  soon  after  the  projection  of  this  im¬ 
provement,  disclosed  the  then  superior  advantages  of  con¬ 
necting  the  tide  waters  of  the  Hudson  with  Lake  Erie,  by 
an  avenue  through  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk,  which  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal.  Practicable 
as  that  measure  was  demonstrated  and  has  proved  to  be, 
valuable  and  magnificent  as  it  has  been  and  continues  to 
be  in  its  results,  many  men,  of  much  political  foresight, 
were  so  doubtful  of  its  policy  and  importance,  that  they 
vigorously  opposed  it  up  to  the  time  of  its  completion. 
Being  now  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  the  prosperity  it  has 
conferred,  increased  in  moral,  physical,  and  pecuniary 
power,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  obstacle  to  our  pressing 


5 


on  in  the  career  of  improvement,  and  extending  in  com¬ 
mon  to  all  the  benefits  hitherto  enjoyed  by  only  a  part. 

So  strong  are  the  indications  of  an  increase  of  internal 
trade,  and  of  the  accumulation  of  revenue,  that  the  Legis¬ 
lature  has  recently  “  authorized  and  directed”  the  Canal 
Commissioners  “  to  enlarge  and  improve  the  Erie  Canal, 
and  construct  a  double  set  of  lift-locks  therein,”  and  to 
make  “independent  canals ”  to  pass  the  cities  and  villages  on 
its  route ;  and  thus  perhaps  incur  a  new  additional  expen¬ 
diture  in  the  advancement  of  the  more  favoured  counties, 
of  greater  amount  than  will  be  solicited  in  aid  of  the  Rail 
Road  through  the  southern  interior. 

Still,  during  this  whole  period,  the  plan  of  opening  a 
new  and  rapid  communication  through  the  southern  coun¬ 
ties,  has  at  no  time  been  abandoned.  The  importance  and 
justice  of  furnishing  to  this  secluded  and  extended  line  of 
country,  the  means  of  transporting  its  products  to  market 
with  cheapness  and  expedition,  and  of  thus  putting  its  citi¬ 
zens  on  a  comparative  equality  with  their  brethren  on  the 
line  of  the  Erie  Canal,  have  continued  to  be  felt,  and  been 
generally  acknowledged. 

In  1832,  an  act  was  passed  “  incorporating  a  Company 
for  the  construction  of  a  Rail  Road  from  New-York  to  Lake 
Erie,  through  the  southern  tier  of  counties.”  This  inspired 
new  confidence  that  at  no  remote  period  the  long  promised 
relief  would  be  realized.  But  the  heavy  character  of  the 
work,  and  the  expenditure  necessary  for  its  construction, 
have  hitherto  deterred  capitalists  from  investing  their  funds 
to  the  amount  required  for  its  accomplishment.  This  Con¬ 
vention  aims  to  obviate  this  embarrassment,  by  persuading 
the  people  of  New-York  that  the  credit  of  constructing  such 
a  work  should  be  added,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  capital 
stock  of  the  State’s  character.  That  it  is  an  enterprise 
deserving  legislative  encouragement,  and  that  the  benefits 
it  will  confer,  imperiously  demand  the  aid  which  the  ere- 


6 


Jit  and  favourable  consideration  of  the  government  can 
give  it. 

The  only  propositions  of  which  it  can  be  necessary  to 
satisfy  the  public,  to  ensure  its  generous  and  efficient  sup¬ 
port,  are — 

1st.  That  the  measure  is  practicable  ; 

2d.  That  the  Company  can  secure,  or  that  the  character 
and  results  of  the  work,  when  finished,  will  secure  the 
State  from  loss  or  injury,  in  loaning  its  credit,  under  pro¬ 
per  limitations  and  restrictions,  to  such  extent  as  may  be 
required  to  execute  it. 

That  this  measure  is  feasible,  is  satisfactorily  shown  by 
the  report  of  the  United  States’  Civil  Engineer,  before  ad¬ 
verted  to.  It  is  also  perfectly  settled,  by  the  minute  and 
recent  survey,  made  under  the  superintendence  of  Judge 
Wright.  This  gentleman  has  given  the  subject  that  tho¬ 
rough  examination  for  which  his  talents  and  experience 
eminently  qualified  him,  and  which  its  importance  de¬ 
manded.  The  result  is,  that  the  whole  length  of  the  route, 
from  the  Hudson  river  to  the  head  of  the  plane  near  Lake 
Erie,  can  be  brought  within  the  power  of  the  locomotive 
engines,  “  drawing  passenger  cars,  light  merchandise,  and 
the  public  mail.”  As  proof  of  this,  it  is  observed  that  “the 
steepest  acclivities  in  the  wffiole  route,  will  be  only  a  hun¬ 
dred  feet  per  mile,  and  that  the  locomotive  steam  engines 
on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail  Road,  can  ascend  an  accli¬ 
vity  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  feet  to  the  mile,  drawing 
from  five  to  ten  tons  weight.” 

But  there  are  only  six  grades  in  the  whole  route  to  the 
head  of  the  plane  near  Lake  Erie,  in  which  the  acclivity 
exceeds  sixty  feet  per  mile,  and  but  one  grade  in  which  it 
exceeds  seventy-two  feet  per  mile.  Indeed,  the  opponents  of 
this  improvement  do  not  deny  its  practicability,  or  pretend 
to  entertain  a  doubt  that,  when  finished,  passengers,  light 
merchandise,  and  the  public  mail,  can  be  transported  on 


7 


it,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  from  New-York  to  Lake  Erie, 
in  less  than  forty-eight  hours. 

Will  the  character  and  probable  results  of  this  measure, 
when  completed,  secure  the  State  from  loss  or  injury  in 
loaning  its  credit  to  such  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to 
complete  it  ? 

In  determining  this  question,  the  State  should  not  regard 
herself  as  a  mere  accommodation  endorser,  receiving  no 
benefit  whatever  from  the  transaction,  or  as  a  mere  money 
lender,  suffering  an  absolute  and  irretrievable  loss  of  every 
dollar  of  her  loan  that  shall  not  be  returned  with  interest 
to  her  treasury.  The  Governor,  in  his  annual  message  de¬ 
livered  to  the  Legislature,  on  the  second  of  January,  1833, 
advised  that  body  on  his  official  responsibility,  that  in  test¬ 
ing  the  usefulness  of  a  public  work,  “  the  first  object  of  in¬ 
quiry  should  be  to  ascertain  as  accurately  as  possible  the 
amount  of  expenditure  the  proposed  work  will  involve ;  and 
next,  the  amount  of  revenue  that  may  be  derived  from  it. 
If  the  revenue  promises  to  be  sufficient  to  keep  it  in  repair 
when  finished,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  superintendence 
and  the  collection  of  tolls,  and  to  meet  the  claims  for  inte¬ 
rest  on  the  capital  expended,  sound  policy  requires  it  should 
he  constructed .  Even  if  a  less  favourable  result  should  be 
anticipated  for  a  few  years,  the  question  of  authorizing  the 
construction  of  a  public  work  may  yet  be  very  properly 
entertained.  An  improvement,  opening  a  cheap  and  easy 
communication  into  the  interior  of  any  part  of  the  State, 
would  soon  develop  new  sources  in  that  section,  increase 
the  quantity  of  its  productions,  and  expand  its  trade.  If  it 
should  require  the  lapse  of  a  few  years  to  produce  these 
effects,  and  to  increase  the  revenue  to  an  amount  sufficient 
for  the  purposes  before  specified,  this  would  constitute  no 
conclusive  objection  to  the  undertaking.  Should  the  pro¬ 
posed  work  be  connected  with  those  now  in  operation,  the 
effect  it  might  have  on  the  productiveness  of  them  should 


8 


also  be  regarded,  and,  to  a  reasonable  extent,  influence 
your  decision.  Improvements  that  will  ensure  these  re¬ 
sults  at  the  time  of  their  completion,  or  shortly  thereafter, 
should  inspire  no  dread  that  a  general  burthen  will  be  cast 
upon  the  State  to  discharge  the  debt  created  for  their  con¬ 
struction  ;  because,  the  gradual  growth  of  the  adjacent 
country,  and,  consequently,  the  extension  of  trade,  will  in¬ 
crease  the  revenue  until  there  will  ultimately  be  a  surplus 
to  be  applied  in  redemption  of  the  debt  contracted  on  their 
credit.  From  all  improvements  there  necessarily  result 
local  benefits ;  and  it  is  natural  that  those  parts  of  the  State 
which  have  not  participated  in  them,  should  indulge  an 
impatient  desire  to  do  so.  Wise  legislation  should  endeavour 
to  gratify  this  desire  as  far  as  practicable,  when  it  can  be 
done  with  due  regard  to  the  public  interest.” 

The  same  sagacious  statesman,  in  his  annual  message 
to  the  legislature  of  this  State,  delivered  January  6,  1835, 
after  the  candid  and  minute  examination  of  this  subject, 
required  by  his  high  official  relations  to  the  people,  and 
prompted  by  his  unyielding  purpose,  to  promote  to  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  his  influence  the  highest  and  best  interests  of  the 
whole ;  after  a  full  and  thorough  investigation  of  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  our  existing  public  improvements  on  the  pro¬ 
ductiveness  of  each  other,  on  the  different  sections  of 
country  contiguous  to  their  routes,  and  on  the  business 
resources  and  interests  of  the  State  at  large ;  still  further 
advises  that  body,  that  in  relation  to  the  benefits  to  be  se¬ 
cured  by  those  works,  “  their  views  should  be  liberal  and 
extended :  that  they  should  not  be  confined  to  the  state  of 
things  that  will  exist  immediately  on  the  completion  of  the 
work ;  but  should  have  regard  to  the  progressive  advance¬ 
ment  of  the  region  of  the  State  to  be  laid  open  by  it ;  to 
the  extension  and  increase  of  internal  trade,  and  even  to 
the  local  advantages  it  will  confer.”  The  Executive  adds : 
“Having  in  my  first  message  stated  my  views  of  what 


9 


:*%ould  be  the  character,  productiveness,  and  other  advan¬ 
tages  of  afry  proposed  Work  which  it  would  be  proper,  in 
fny  opinion,  for  the  State  to  execute,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
referring  you  to  them,  as  substantially  those  I  now  enter¬ 
tain  on  the  same  subject.” 

These  judicious  and  liberal  views  of  the  Executive  of 
this  State  are  here  adverted  to  and  repeated  because  they 
are  the  views  of  the  entire  and  extensive  portion  of  the 
community  seeking  the  execution  of  this  public  work. 
They  are  also  adverted  to  and  repeated  here  because  they 
have  been  approved  by  the  people,  and  present  a  standard 
by  which  to  determine  the  merits  of  this  improvement  and 
the  character  of  the  claims  of  the  great  section  to  be  most 
extensively  benefitted  by  it,  whose  fitness  the  whole  com¬ 
munity  has  sanctioned  and  avowed. 

What  benefits,  local  and  general,  will  be  secured  by 
this  improvement,  when  finished  ? 

1.  It  will  constitute  a  new  thoroughfare,  traversing  be¬ 
tween  the  point  of  its  termination  at  Lake  Erie,  and  the 
point  of  its  intersection  with  the  Hudson  river,  four  hun¬ 
dred  and  eighty-three  miles  of  the  southern  interior  of  the 
State.  It  will  augment  in  a  great  degree  the  value  of  the 
ireal  estate  adjacent  to  its  route,  bring  the  wild  lands  into 
market,  secure  their  cultivation  and  settlement,  encourage 
enterprise  among  the  communities  on  its  line,  introduce 
capitalists,  and  make  neighbours  of  remote  villages  and  dis¬ 
tricts.  It  will  bring  the  products  of  the  most  distant  part 
of  the  State  within  a  proximity  of  New  York,  which  can 
be  overcome  in  less  than  two  days’  travel.  It  opens  an 
easy,  cheap,  and  expeditious  communication  to  every  point 
on  its  whole  line.  It  furnishes  a  new  and  lasting  impulse 
to  the  full  development  of  the  resources  of  this  great  por¬ 
tion  of  the  State  to  increase  the  quantity  of  its  productions 
and  expand  its  trade  to  the  extent  of  its  improvable  capa¬ 
cities.  It  will  increase  tile  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  the  pro- 
2 


10 


ducts  of*  the  manufactory  and  the  workshop  in  more  remote 
situations,  and  enlarging  the  sources  of  supply,  prevent 
the  sudden  fluctuations  in  prices,  alike  prejudicial  to  the 
producer  and  consumer.  It  will  diminish  the  expense  and 
hazard  of  transportation  of  all  kinds  of  commodities,  and 
accelerate  the  movements  of  the  traveller.  It  will  en¬ 
hance  the  home  value  of  our  mines  and  forests,  and  secure 
to  the  whole  country,  in  times  of  danger  and  want,  protec¬ 
tion  and  relief.  It  will  enable  the  counties  on  its  route  to 
pursue  a  vigorous  and  honorable  competition  in  all  busi- 
ness  pursuits  with  the  other  counties,  which,  while  it  would 
procure  for  the  former  additional  wealth  and  importance* 
would  work  no  injury  to  the  latter.  It  will  materially  aug¬ 
ment  the  resources  of  the  State,  secure  the  elements  of 
revenue  in  the  districts  traversed  by  the  road,  promote 
free  and  extensive  intercourse  among  the  inhabitants  of 
remote  counties,  and  thus  do  away  illiberal  prejudices  and 
unjust  animosities,  and  induce  a  nationality  of  feeling  and 
interests.  It  furnishes  a  guaranty  in  the  history  and  re¬ 
sults  of  other  similar  improvements,  that  large  manufac¬ 
turing  towns  and  populous  cities  will,  soon  after  it  is  fin¬ 
ished,  cover  the  sites  favorable  for  such  establishments* 
which  are  known  and  conceded  to  mark  its  line.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  Erie  Canal,  in  1817,  on  the  whole 
length  of  its  route  there  were  not  more  than  fifty  small  vil¬ 
lages  within  a  distance  of  twenty  miles  on  each  side  of  it. 
There  are  now  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty,  including 
several  populous  cities,  “all  exhibiting  evidence  of  pros¬ 
perity  and  wealth.  Well  cultivated  and  highly  stocked 
farms,  with  ornamental  and  commodious  buildings,  are 
found  in  every  direction,”  and  the  benefits  of  such  an  en¬ 
couragement  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  to  improve 
all  the  sources  of  individual  gain,  may  be  determined  by 
the  immense  revenue  which  it  annually  yields  to  the  Canal 
fund. 


2.  This  work  will  connect  with  almost  every  public  im¬ 
provement  now  contemplated,  authorized  or  in  progress. 
The  products  of  this  whole  line  of  country  would  no  longer 
seek  a  market  in  other  States  ;  the  increased  fruits  of  ani¬ 
mated  labour  and  expanded  enterprise  would  not,  like  our 
present  articles  of  trade,  be  contributing  to  the  commerce 
and  improving  the  resources  of  the  cities  on  the  Delaware 
and  Susquehannah,  for  want  of  a  cheap  and  certain  com¬ 
munication  with  New  York;  but  the  valuable  and  various 
productions  of  the  interior  would  be  arrested  in  their  pro¬ 
gress  to  other  markets,  by  such  a  thoroughfare,  and  direct¬ 
ed  to  our  own  metropolis,  to  enlarge  her  trade,  augment 
her  wealth,  and  perpetuate  her  commercial  prosperity  over 
the  rival  cities  of  other  States.  Connected  as  it  will  be 
with  all  similar  public  works,  stretching  into  the  important 
points  of  the  interior,  and  thence  to  the  Erie  Canal,  it  will 
enable  all  portions  of  the  State,  thus  connected,  to  procure 
from  the  city  at  any  seasons  of  the  year,  without  much 
time  and  at  little  cost,  the  varieties  imported  for  home  con¬ 
sumption,  and  for  traffic  and  manufacture  in  the  country. 
The  amount  of  expense  saved  in  transportation  will  be 
added  to  the  home  value  of  our  property.  The  cost  of 
every  article  required  by  the  wants,  or  enhancing  the  com¬ 
forts  of  life,  will  be  reduced  a  corresponding  amount ;  con¬ 
flicting  local  interests  will  be  consolidated,  and  the  advan¬ 
tages  resulting  from  its  completion  will  be  distributed 
equally  to  the  districts  and  communities  interested. — 
“  Mountains  interposed  would  no  longer  make  enemies  of 
nations,”  for  such  improvements  level  natural  impediments 
and  annihilate  space.  These  influences  would  be  as  per¬ 
manent  as  important,  as  the  road  would  present  an  unin¬ 
terrupted  avenue  throughout  the  year. 

3.  This  work  will  offer  immense  public  advantages  to 
our  commercial  metropolis,  and  its  speedy  completion  is 
an  object  of  paramount  necessity  to  her  traders  as  the 


12 


only  means  yet  devised  of  preserving  her  great  and  lucra¬ 
tive  trade  with  the  west. 

The  business  operations  of  this  and  the  neighbouring 
States  must  satisfy  us  beyond  a  doubt  of  the  important, 
and  to  us  vitally  interesting  truth,  that  other  and  more 
regular  and  expeditious  avenues  for  commerce  with,  the 
west  are  indispensable  to  preserve  her  extended  and  en¬ 
larging  trade ;  the  means  to  which  the  city  is  in  a  great 
degree  indebted  for  her  present  prosperity.,  The  Erie  Ca¬ 
nal  is  not  usually  navigable  until  about  the  20th  of  April, 
and  is  commonly  closed  about  the  20th  of  November.  The 
canals  of  Pennsylvania,  yielding  to  the  influence  of  a 
milder  climate,  can  be  used  nearly  thirty-five  days  earlier, 
and  continue  open  about  the  same  additional  period  after 
ours  are  closed.  In  consequence  of  this,  and  of  the  con¬ 
tinuance  of  the  line  of  their  canals  by  rail  roads  from 
Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh,  the  latter  State  monopolizes 
the  entire  trade  of  the  west  during  more  than  two  months 
most  favorable  to  commercial  enterprise.  Even  after  the 
spring  business  on  our  canals  is  commenced,  the  lakes 
frequently  continue  to  be  blockaded  with  ice.  The  Ohio 
is  navigable  to  Pittsburgh  before  this  obstruction  disap¬ 
pears  from  the  lakes,  and  thus  the  produce  of  the  west 
finds  it  s  way  to  market  through  the  avenue  to  Philadel¬ 
phia,  is  there  invested  in  merchandise,  and  its  proceeds 
transported  into  the  interior.  In  the  mean  time,  the  en¬ 
terprising  traders  of  our  metropolis  are  made  inactive  and 
unwilling  spectators  of  this  serious  encroachment  on  the 
sources  of  her  wealth  and  power. 

There  is  no  other  improvement  yet  projected,  and  per¬ 
haps  none  can  be,  so  well  calculated  as  this  to  continue 
this  State  what  she  now  is ;  and  nature  seems  to  have  de¬ 
signed  she  should  be,  emphatically,  “  The  Empire  State” 
When  this  work  is  finished,  passengers,  the  public  mail, 
pnd  light  merchandise  can  be  transported  from  New  York 


13 


to  the  harbours  of  Dunkirk,  Portland,  or  Erie,  and  thcr 
valuable  commodities  continually  collecting  at  these  points 
from  the  whole  producing  interior,  conveyed  in  turn  to  the 
city,  with  a  rapidity  unknown  to  any  other  channels  of  in¬ 
tercourse.  This  will  enable  the  merchants  of  New  York 
to  furnish  spring  supplies  to  Pittsburgh  and  all  the  trading 
towns  and  cities  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio,  before  they  can 
communicate  with  Philadelphia;  and,  whether  this  work 
be  continued  to  the  Mississippi,  and  thus  open  a  direct, 
permanent,  and  unbroken  communication  between  its  vast 
and  fertile  valley  and  New  York,  or  whether  other  and 
distinct  channels  of  intercourse  shall  stretch  from  its  ter¬ 
mination  and  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie,  to  the  different 
trading  towns  now  chequering  the  whole  interior  of  the 
west,  and  to  the  new  cities  yet  to  arise  at  various  points  of 
that  vast  domain,  we  cannot  fail  to  preserve  the  advantages 
of  their  commerce.  We  shall  also  invite  them,  by  the  fa¬ 
cilities  of  communicating  with  our  metropolis,  and  by  the 
exhaustless  market  and  supplies  she  can  yield  in  return,  to 
push  their  internal  trade  and  augment  their  products  to 
their  utmost  limits. 

The  facilities  for  travel  and  transportation  would  create 
benefits  whose  influence  would  operate  beyond  our  bor¬ 
ders  ;  they  would  promote  a  free  and  constant  intercourse 
between  the  citizens  of  different  and  distant  States ;  the 
whole  interior  of  an  immense  Republic  could  be  traversed 
in  a  few  days,  and  at  little  expense,  and  thus  this  improve¬ 
ment,  by  bringing  its  citizens  into  proximity,  and  enlarged 
business  associations  with  each  other,  would  create  a  stronger 
and  more  intimate  connexion  of  interests  and  sympathies ,  and 
extend  over  our  whole  common  country  a  new  how  of  promise  and 
another  strong  bond  of  union , 

4.  The  city  of  New-York,  through  her  common  council, 
has  avowed  to  her  brethren  of  the  whole  State,  that  the 
preservation  of  the  trade  of  these  great  inland  districts,  by 


14 


connecting  them  intimately  with  each  other,  by  means  of 
cheap  and  rapid  channels  of  intercourse,  has  become  an 
object  of  the  deepest  solicitude  to  her  landholders,  and  to 
every  one  interested  in  her  permanent  prosperity.  She 
alleges,  and  truly  as  is  believed,  that  she  is  mainly  indebted 
for  her  present  importance  and  immense  trade,  to  the  su¬ 
perior  means  she  has  heretofore  enjoyed  over  her  rival 
Atlantic  cities,  of  communicating  with  the  producing  popu¬ 
lation  of  the  interior.  That,  within  ten  years  after  the 
.completion  of  the  Erie  canal,  the  assessed  value  of  her 
real  estate  increased  from  fifty-two  to  one  hundred  and  four¬ 
teen  millions  of  dollars  ;  that  attentive  observers  of  its  results 
have  computed  that  this  work  of  itself,  by  diminishing  the 
time,  labour,  and  expenses  required  for  transportation,  has 
saved  annually  to  the  citizens  of  this  State,  $5,000,000, 
and  added  at  least  $150,000,000  to  their  aggregate  wealth. 

If  these  views  are  correct,  and  such  have  been  the  re¬ 
sults  of  that  one  improvement,  none  can  doubt  the  expe¬ 
diency  and  importance  of  making  a  thoroughfare  through 
the  southern  tier  of  counties,  A  Rail  Road  possesses  in 
one  point  of  view,  an  almost  incalculable  superiority.  The 
Erie  Canal  is  in  operation  but  seven  months  of  the  year:  the 
former  can  be  used  without  any  interruption  whatever. 
At  those  seasons  even  when  both  can  be  used,  the  trader 
who  goes  and  conveys  his  property  to  market  on  the  for^ 
mer,  can  return  to  the  starting  point  with  the  commodities 
in  which  he  has  invested  its  proceeds,  before  the  adven¬ 
turer  who  travels  on  the  latter  will  arrive  at  the  wharves 
of  the  city. 

It  is  not  extravagant  to  sa}q  that  none  can  now  justly  ap¬ 
preciate,  or  properly  estimate,  the  increasing  and  lasting- 
sources  of  wealth  which  would  be  secured  to  New-York, 
by  preserving  her  invaluable  commerce  with  the  West, 
and  by  concentrating  in  that  city  the  vast  and  illimitable 
trade,  which  must,  so  long  as  “  the  star  of  empire  continues 


to  travel  westward,'”  be  augmenting,  and  carried  on  be¬ 
tween  the  great  interior,  and  some  one  or  more  of  the  At¬ 
lantic  cities.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  determine  with  greater 
accuracy  the  substantial  benefits  which  would  be  yielded 
in  return  to  the  State  at  large ,  as  well  as  to  its  different  dis¬ 
tricts,  by  preserving  our  metropolis,  beyond  the  hazard  of 
future  contingency,  the  favoured  public  market,  and  the 
mistress  of  the  American  cities. 

De  Witt  Clinton,  son  of  the  lamented  statesman  whose 
name  he  bore,  in  his  report  on  his  reconnoisance  of  this  route, 
observed,  that  some  persons  had  said  such  an  improvement 
“.would  injure  the  business  of  the  Erie  Canal.  That  those 
who  advance  this  opinion  can  have  reflected  but  little  on 
its  solidity,  as  it  could  not  injure,  but  must  manifestly  be¬ 
nefit  that  work.  This  route  is  happily  so  far  separated 
from  the  Erie  Canal,  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  its  influ¬ 
ence  on  its  prosperity,  as  it  will  benefit  distant  districts 
and  populations.  That,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  the 
'Canal  will  be  unable  to  pass  the  immense  trade  which  will 
be  concentrated  on  it,  and  that  a  second  improvement  will 
be  required  by  the  public  interest.” 

This  flattering  prophecy  of  the  increase  of  our  internal 
trade  is  already  realized,  and  has  led  to  legislative  direc¬ 
tions  “to  enlarge  and  improve”  this  great  water  communi¬ 
cation,  and  construct  “independent  canals”  to  pass  the 
cities  and  villages  on  its  line,  where  the  public  interest  may 
require  it.  But,  however  much  it  may  be  enlarged  and 
improved,  it  will  create  no  accommodation  for  the  secluded 
counties.  The  termination  remaining  unaltered,  it  would 
continue  to  be  embarrassed  with  ice  in  the  spring  and  fall; 
be  troubled  with  transhipments,  and  uncertainties  in  the 
arrivals  and  deliveries.  It  would  still  be  navigable  but 
seven  months  of  the  year,  and  gain  no  additional  control  over 
the  trade  ol  the  West.  Not  one  of  the  advantages  peculiar 
to  Rail  Roads  would  be  secured,  and,  though  one  arm  of 


16 


the  State  ttiight  be  kept  vigorous  and  strong,  the  othef 
would  be  wasted  with  premature  and  unnatural  decay. 

5.  Is  a  work  which  promises,  with  a  certainty  not  ad¬ 
mitting  of  a  reasonable  doubt,  such  invaluable  benefits, 
worthy  the  attention  and  efficient  support  of  the  public  ? 
Do  its  character  and  undoubted  results  furnish  the  State 
such  indemnity  against  injury  or  loss,  that  she  need  be  in¬ 
spired  with  no  dread  of  a  general  burthen  being  cast  upon 
her,  to  discharge  any  appropriate  debt  which  may  be  con¬ 
tracted  for  its  construction  ? 

But  the  advocates  of  this  measure,  however  justly  they 
might  appeal  to  the  Legislature,  to  make  it  as  a  State  en¬ 
terprise,  and  at  her  individual  expense,  will  not  ask  the 
loan  of  her  credit  for  the  entire  amount  required  to  execute 
it.  They  will  go  to  solicit  partial  aid  only.  They  will 
petition  for  aid  to  this  work,  having  sufficient  amount  of 
the  stock  taken  up  to  make  it  over  nearly  half  of  its  route: 
With  this  earnest  of  their  confidence  in  the  value  and  pro¬ 
ductiveness  of  the  improvement,  with  this  advance  from  their 
own  means,  of  the  sum  required  to  extend  to  them  advan¬ 
tages  similar  to  those  heretofore  conferred  on  other  counties 
at  our  common  expense ,  with  the  proof  of  its  immense  import¬ 
ance  which  the  history  of  like  communications,  though  less 
favourably  located,  has  furnished ;  in  consideration  of  the 
vast  trade  to  be  preserved,  the  great  extent  of  country  to 
be  augmented  in  value,  and  accommodated  with  the  means 
of  advancing  its  prosperity,  the  southern  tier  of  counties 
may  confidently  appeal  to  the  justice,  liberality  and  patri¬ 
otism  of  other  portions  of  the  State,  and  rely  with  an  ani¬ 
mating  certainty  upon  their  generous  and  efficient  support. 

In  no  direction  can  they  look  with  more  justice,  than  to 
the  favoured  region  which  had  grown  rich,  and  in  an  emi¬ 
nent  degree,  through  the  facilities  and  benefits  conferred  on 
it  by  the  Erie  Canal.  Its  citizens  can  appreciate  the  bles¬ 
sings  whi£h  such  a  thoroughfare  creates  and  secures,  and 


17 


4  understand  the  worth  of  being  able  to  convert  the  fruits  of 
the  soil,  the  sources  of  wealth  which  are  embosomed  in  the 
earth,  and  the  diversified  productions  of  human  enterprise, 
into  their  equivalent  in  money.  They  can  tell  how  many 
villages  have  extended  their  borders  until  they  were  en¬ 
larged  into  cities,  and  how  many  new  ones  have  sprung  up, 
where  otherwise  only  the  isolated  farm-house  would  have 
stood,  solely  through  the  creative  impulse  given  by  their 
Canal  to  every  business  pursuit  upon  its  line. 

It  will  not,  it  is  believed,  be  urged  against  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  the  southern  counties  for  relief,  as  has  formerly  been 
done,  that  the  assessed  valuations  of  their  real  estate,  and  the 
progressive  increase  of  their  population,  show  that  they  are 
constantly  improving;  that  the  ratio  of  their  increa.se,  in  both 
respects,  equals  if  not  exceeds  that  of  some  counties  con¬ 
tiguous  to  the  Canal,  and  therefore  nothing  need  be  done 
in  their  behalf.  If  such  has  been  the  ratio  of  their  pros¬ 
perity,  and  their  condition  has  been  that  of  continued  im¬ 
provement;  if  under  all  their  embarrassments,  having  no 
cheap  and  expeditious  channels  of  intercourse  with  the 
public  market;  if,  in  defiance  of  these  obstacles,  they  have 
kept  pace  with  some  of  the  more  favoured  counties  of  the 
State,  they  may  ask  for  aid  with  greater  confidence  of  ob¬ 
taining  it ;  for,  by  so  doing,  they  have  furnished  the  best 
pledge  citizens  can  give  of  their  devotion  to  the  public 
weal,  and  of  possessing  that  integrity  of  purpose,  and  those 
habits  of  industry,  which  make  a  valuable  and  deserving 
people,  and  a  stable  and  prosperous  government. 

Let  not  New-York  forego  any  honourable  means  of  per¬ 
petuating  her  ascendancy.  Let  her  not,  in  any  contingency, 
fail  to  improve  her  natural  facilities  for  constructing  such  an 
avenue  from  her  metropolis  to  her  navigable  lakes,  as  will 
secure  to  her  for  ever  the  valuable  commerce  of  the  whole 
western  interior,  and  indissolubly  unite  her  citizens  in 
strong  mutual  interests  with  the  enterprising  millions  who 

o 


6 


18 


are  extending  the  line  of  free  governments  still  further  to 
the  West.  Let  it  not  be  said,  that  the  State  which  took 
the  lead  in  the  career  of  internal  improvements,  is  satisfied 
with  the  glory  and  results  of  what  she  has  achieved,  and 
is  content  that  the  lucrative  and  illimitable  trade  which 
can  easily  be  concentrated  in  her  emporium,  should  be  di¬ 
verted  to  neighbouring  cities,  to  the  ruin  of  her  own.  The 
immense  moral  influence  she  can  ever  justly  exert  in  the 
Confederacy,  while  she  retains  her  present  superiority,  and 
holds  the  elements  of  power  which  the  favourable  position 
of  her  Atlantic  city,  her  navigable  lakes  and  rivers,  and 
her  invaluable  and  exhaustless  internal  resources,  have  put 
under  her  control,  should  never  be  yielded  by  a  high- 
minded  and  patriotic  people. 


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